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Officials debate limits of Sedgwick County land bank as treasurer lays out foreclosure numbers
Summary
County treasurer Brandy Bailey told the joint en banc that 385 parcels were selected for tax foreclosure in Oct. 2023, 309 were redeemed, 68 went to sale, $1.244M was collected and $113,796 was abated; attorneys and staff warned Kansas statute and special-assessment rules limit land-bank leverage.
Brandy Bailey, Sedgwick County treasurer, presented detailed results from the county’s recent tax-foreclosure cycle and described constraints that have limited the local land bank’s activity.
"Out of those 68 parcels, we collected $1,244,000 at the tax sale which then went and paid off the taxes, paid off the fees," Bailey said, and she added that $113,796 in taxes were ultimately abated from the initial set of 385 parcels selected for foreclosure. Her numbers were cited during a broader discussion of whether a county-run land bank can reliably acquire and repurpose troubled properties under current Kansas law.
Tax-foreclosure attorney Chris McElgin explained a practical mismatch: Kansas law and common funding sources can allow properties at tax sale to be bid for as little as a dollar, which can erase special-assessment liens that municipalities use to finance infrastructure, limiting the land bank’s ability to recover costs. A county/state staff member and elected officials said a statutory change to require minimum bids equal to back taxes would increase a land bank’s leverage, but that would require legislative action.
Commissioners and council members discussed alternatives — better use of existing tools such as RHID (a state infill program), working with private-sector remediators, and targeted code and zoning reforms to reduce barriers to infill. No new ordinance or statutory change was adopted at the meeting; elected bodies asked staff for further analysis.
